Tension rises as MP Ocan is expelled from UPC

7 July 2025, 9:34 am

By Sarah Acio Acak

Tensions are escalating within the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) in Apac District following the expulsion of Apac Municipality Member of Parliament, Hon. Patrick Ocan, from the party over alleged misconduct.

The decision was reached during a district party leaders’ meeting held on 6 July 2025 at Baptist Church in Temogo, Apac Municipality. In a vote conducted during the meeting, only two members supported Ocan, while 17 voted in favour of his removal, effectively terminating his UPC membership.

Apac District UPC Chairperson, Mr David Ojok Zulu, while outlining the accusations, stated that Ocan had been found guilty of several breaches of the party’s constitution, particularly Chapter 3 (6). He was accused of supporting non-UPC candidates — most notably Apac District Woman MP Hon. Betty Engola — mobilising drunkards to disrupt the recently suspended UPC internal elections, snubbing disciplinary summons from top party leaders, using lawyers to intimidate party officials, and deliberately withholding the party register for nearly two weeks before surrendering it.

Ojok Zulu criticised Ocan for turning his back on the party that had propelled him to Parliament. “He has distanced himself from the party and failed to support UPC activities. Instead, he continues to fight the party from within,” Ojok said. Most district party leaders reportedly supported the expulsion, describing it as long overdue.

However, Hon. Ocan has refuted the move. Speaking on the Community Focus show on Radio Apac this morning, he said he had not been formally notified of his expulsion and only learned about it through media reports. He affirmed his loyalty to UPC and stated his intention to seek re-election under the party’s banner. “I am still UPC, and I will be the first to pick nomination forms. I’m confident I will be the flag bearer,” he said, dismissing the allegations against him as baseless and unsupported by evidence.

Some of Ocan’s supporters have threatened to form a breakaway faction within UPC, claiming the decision to expel him was driven by selfish interests among the party leadership.

Divisions within UPC began earlier this year when Maruzi County MP, Maxwell Akora, declared his intention to contest for the Apac Municipality seat in 2026, accusing Ocan of weakening the party’s influence in the area.

Attempts to obtain a comment from the UPC party secretariat were unsuccessful by the time of publication.

As political temperatures rise in Apac, attention now turns to how this internal fallout will impact UPC’s fortunes ahead of the 2026 elections.

This story is still developing.